The transformation of a historic building into a museum: a pledge of preservation or endangerment? The case of Victor Horta When converting a historic building into a museum open to the public, one must be aware that the necessary adaptation to new functions may cause alterations. How far are we willing to go to save a monument? Is a rescue leading to an irreversible transformation of the building preferable to a simple disappearance? What awaits the visitor when visiting a historical monument? When he finds himself surrounded by many visitors in a space formerly designed for family use, does he enjoy its charms or does he briefly take a picture of what he must have seen? Some examples from Horta’s architecture can illustrate the variety of modes of opening to the public of historical monuments.

Art Nouveau of Riga in the context of challenges for city tourism development The city of Riga is proud of having quite a significant number of Art Nouveau buildings. One can say such cultural heritage would be a promoting and valuable tourism product for attracting new tourists. As the matter of fact Riga uses only a small portion of this potential and the main reason is that many buildings still have not been restored and are in a bad state of repair. Such situation is rather affected by the country’s slippery economy, when building owners are slowing and even stopping the restoration and reconstruction effort.
To deal with the Art Nouveau heritage, Riga City Council has founded Riga Art Nouveau Centre museum with the aim to produce a wide range of information material on Art Nouveau. The Centre has been opened for 2 years and in some extent has become a visit card of Riga, attracting a significant attention from tourists and history enthusiasts. 22,287 tourists, of whom 55% are non-locals, visited the museum. Riga’s Art Nouveau Centre also maintains a website that was visited by 32,000 attendees from around the world last year.
Art Nouveau Centre organizes educational programs and activities on the Art Nouveau and 20th century tradition and attracts young people to the museum. As the result from all these activities, city of Riga has developed a block where building owners, lessors of premises and buildings and block residents have begun to care for the environment or even been directly involved in various Art Nouveau promoting projects. Alberta street, which is in the centre of the block, has become a favourite tourist attraction site.